Courting Through Cain

Few fight fans are as passionate and loyal as the Mexican and
Mexican-American fans who keep boxing going. Yet, to this point,
the UFC has become pay-per-view’s top attraction without gaining
significant inroads into that market. That leads to a tantalizing
question following Cain
Velasquez’s heavyweight title victory at UFC
121 on Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. How much
bigger can the sport of MMA get if it is able to bring America’s
emerging Mexican-American market fully into the fold?

At UFC 121, the UFC’s biggest drawing card suffered a devastating
setback. Brock
Lesnar again looked uncomfortable with taking a punch and was
mauled for a first-round loss. But with every decisive defeat for a
current star comes the opportunity to create a new one. Velasquez,
the soft spoken son of a Mexican migrant worker, announced his
presence as one of the sport’s best fighters.

Promotional opportunities often come with a lot of luck. The NBA
targeted the Chinese market for many years but would not have had
anywhere near the success it did without the presence of Yao Ming.
If Wang Zhizhi were the top Chinese player in the NBA, basketball
simply would not have grown as big as it has in China. Likewise,
Georges
St. Pierre’s class and dominance has helped to make Canada the
strongest market in the world for the UFC on pay-per-view.

To this point, the UFC has made its explosive rise with little help
from America’s fastest-growing demographic of Latinos. That is not
because UFC has no Latino stars. Tito Ortiz was
for many years the company’s top attraction. However, Ortiz’s
persona was that of a colorful villain, and his style was heavily
based on groundwork that would be unfamiliar to longtime boxing
fans. He was not the right fighter at the right time.

File Photo

UFC heavyweight champion Cain
Velasquez’s ascent has just begun.

Velasquez is a different story. His low-key demeanor may not stand
out to American fans accustomed to big talkers with big
personalities, but it plays particularly well with
Mexican-Americans. That audience has continually embraced boxers
who demonstrate humility outside the ring but fight with passion
and heart inside it. Velasquez is a likeable person whose fights
almost always deliver action and entertainment. That combination
could play very well.

Leading up to UFC 121, a concerted effort was made to push
Velasquez to Mexican-Americans. The UFC staged a rally in Los
Angeles for Velasquez and built the show around the idea that he
could become the first Mexican-American UFC heavyweight champion
(former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco
Rodriguez is of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage). Velasquez
after the fight dedicated his victory to Mexican and
Mexican-American fans, and the story of his win became news to many
people who wouldn’t know Chuck
Liddell from B.J. Penn.

While Velasquez could be the fighter to introduce and popularize
MMA with many Mexican-Americans, there are no guarantees.

Millions of people can’t be expected to embrace a sport solely on
the basis of one competitor’s ethnicity. A great deal of time and
effort still needs to be put into introducing and teaching about
MMA.

At first, Velasquez is still primarily going to draw from UFC’s
usual audience. It’s hard to believe he will ever be the star to
that audience that Lesnar is, so Velasquez needs to bring in a
substantial new audience over time if he is to produce comparable
pay-per-view buy rates as champion.

If there is a danger in bringing in Hispanic fight fans, it’s that
they will find MMA threatening to their traditional love of boxing.
To that end, the UFC ought to bring in a Mexican boxing icon or two
to do publicity tours with Velasquez. The endorsement of a Julio
Cesar Chavez or Oscar De La Hoya would go a long way towards
helping Mexican-American fans get behind Velasquez. If he is viewed
as a successor to Mexico’s greatest boxing icons, it will pay huge
dividends.

When buy rate numbers begin to trickle out for UFC 121, we’ll begin
to see how well Velasquez is taking. But the real test will be
Velasquez’s upcoming title defense against Junior dos
Santos. The Brazilian is a worthy challenger and a compelling
matchup, but he lacks the star power of Lesnar. If Velasquez-dos
Santos generates numbers close to Lesnar-Velasquez, it will be a
strong sign that the promotion of Velasquez has worked.

As a fighter, Velasquez has reached the top of the mountain. As a
star, his ascent may have only just begun.